At any rate, that’s why I’ve barely left the house at all this week except to go to classes, take tests, and buy medicine.  I’m really quite ready to come home now.  I miss having a room that is big enough to walk comfortably and spread out in.  I miss having peace and quiet in the morning when I have first gotten up and want nothing more than to eat my breakfast in silence without having to try and maintain an hour-long conversation.  In Spanish.  I miss watching television in English.  I miss the warmth and the sun.  I miss being semi-tan.  I miss my friends, my family and my boyfriend.  I think the time has come.

I had hoped I wouldn’t be so eager to come home…I know I should live up these last few weeks as much as possible, but all I can think about lately is how much I want to see some faces from home and get away from the city.  Being sick all the time has not helped much with ameliorating my desire to leave.  I know I will miss it here though.  Last night I stayed up until three in the morning conversing with Vivi, Gonzalo and Judith, the girlfriend of my oldest host brother.  We laughed and joked all night.  It was lovely.  I will miss every single person in this house and the friends I’ve made here.  They’ve made this experience worth all the hassles.  All of them are beautiful people that I’ll remember forever.  Hopefully someday soon I’ll be able to return (during a different season, perhaps).  My family has been so generous and bent over backwards to make me comfortable here…to the point where I feel somewhat guilty, even.  I wish I could give back to them everything they have given me.

I suppose I’ll head to bed now while I can still listen to the rain falling…

On the road through the Andes to Mendoza.

So I’ve been back from Mendoza for awhile now, but as usual I’ve been too lazy to actually put up any photos or post about the trip.  I went with three other girls from various ISA programs.  It was a very quick trip–we only had one full day in the city–but I enjoyed it nonetheless.  The bus ride was really beautiful.  The Andes are fantastic, so it makes the eight-hour bus ride pass pretty quickly.  The bus company we ended up taking was less than wonderful, unfortunately.  The TVs in the bus played aloud the whole time, so getting any sleep was pretty much impossible for me.  The movies they showed weren’t exactly, uhh…the greatest quality either.  We made it there safely, however, which I suppose is all that really matters.

The first night we didn’t really do a whole lot, but we were able to meet up with my friend Elisa who I know from college in the U.S.  She took us to one of her favorite restaurants and I splurged on a pizza that I couldn’t possibly refuse to eat.  Diabetes or no.  My glucose wasn’t too happy with me, but I’d been pretty good so I had to treat myself.

The next day we started our tour of the city with Elisa.  She took us around all the plazas and the city’s enormous park.  I felt much more at home in that type of city than in Valpo or Vina.  The climate is different, for one thing…it’s drier and more pleasant, even if it is a bit cooler at night.  The city is also laid out in a much more sensible way that is easier to navigate than say, the hills of Valparaiso.  The streets are wide and lined with trees that are hydrated by a system of channels hat run throughout the city (can’t remember the name of them now).  With all the parks and plazas it just has a nicer feel to it somehow.  I really miss having parks and greenspace to spend time in.  Although it is winter here, so I suppose I wouldn’t be spending a lot of time in a park even if there were any.  I guess I’m just missing the warm weather and sun in general a lot these days.

A calle peotonal (pedestrian street) in Mendoza's downtown.

After having lunch in the park we split up and some of the girls went paragliding while my friend Sarah and I opted for wine-tasting.  It was neat, but I get a little bored.  Once you’ve done one, you’ve sort of done them all.  I did end up buy a bottle of really delicious organic white wine for the equivalent of US $5.  Incredible.  All in all it was a nice tour of the area.

Since getting home I’ve been kind of busy trying to study for my end of semester exams and such.  I can hardly believe that I have less than a month now until I go home!  I would still like to take one last trip somewhere, but I’m not sure if I can get it together in time or not.  I have two tests and a presentation this week, then two tests the following week…and if I don’t pass them I will be in big trouble.  Not that I think I will fail, but I can’t afford to slack off right now too much (says the girl who is writing in her blog instead of studying).

In addition, I’ve gotten sick again for about the billionth time since I’ve been here.  It started last Friday with just a sore throat and some achiness, but then on Sunday I woke up with a fever and feeling absolutely horrible.  I could barely get out of bed.  Vivi took me to the doctor who told me that I have some sort of virus, but it’s not the flu.  He prescribed an anti-inflammatory for me and some “Flemex” cough medicine type of stuff.  So far I do feel a lot better, but not 100%.  I’ve been sleeping a lot and trying to take it easy so it doesn’t get any worse.  I certainly hope it’s passed by the weekend.

Anyway, there you have the most recent update on life in Chile.  Nothing much exciting is going on at the moment, but I’ll keep you posted (albeit probably a bit tardy).

On to less pensive things.  This weekend has been a rather relaxing one.  Thursday I went with some friends to see a band called Chico Trujillo play, even though I was exhausted.  The band was great, but the venue was very claustrophobic and hot due to the large number of people packed in there.  We got home around 2ish in the morning and I completely collapsed.

Friday I was pretty lazy.  I managed to meet up with Jennifer (chilena, not American) for lunch in Viña and a delicious sugar- and fat-free milkshake afterwards…mmm.  When I got home I had to take a nap from being so tired.  I wonder if my medication is having some sort of an impact on me…lately I’ve felt unusually tired.  Maybe just from staying out too late, I don’t know.  I did stay up Friday night too to watch a movie with friends–The Motorcycle Diaries (story of Che Guevara’s travels through S. America before he became a revolutionary)–which probably could have done it.  I never paid attention before to how much of that film takes place in Chile…there’s even a few scenes in Valpo, which is cool.  I guess the times that I watched it in the past I was never thinking about going to Chile, so I didn’t notice.  It’s a beautiful movie and maybe makes me love Chile just a little bit more seeing it in all its cinematic glory.

Last night I went to home of another Chilean girlfriend in Villa Alemana, about a 40 minute bus ride from where I live.  She invited some friends over and we stayed up all night talking and choking on the patio around a fire.  Excellent.  I got to meet her adorable two-year old too, which was nice.  I thought it was hard to understand babies in English, but in Spanish it’s worse.  I just have to follow the smile and nod rule, I guess…haha.  At any rate, it was a grand time.  I spent the night so as not to have to travel back by myself and came back this morning.  Since then I’ve just been lazing around and doing homework, trying to get caught up before I head out again on Friday for Mendoza.  Sleepiness is beginning to overwhelm me, so I think it’s time for bed.  Sorry for a less than interesting post.  Maybe when I wake up from this fog I’ll feel more motivated.  Let’s hope.

In Santiago.

have recently had a semi-unfortunate diagnosis from my endocrinologist here: diabetes.  After doing a series of blood tests, I found out that my glucose was abnormally high, which led to one thing which led to another (including an infection and all sorts of goodies) but eventually they determined that diabetes is probably the cause.

It was very stressful having to go to the doctor almost every week, but I’m glad to know at least what’s been going on.  I feel much better and am taking medicine and am on a pretty strict diet with my host mom’s help (what I’ll do when I have to cook for myself again will be another story…).  Because of the health issues and being busy with my lovely visitors from home, I just haven’t been able to get around to updating my blog, so I apologize!  I was very grateful to see my family and Taylor though, it was just what I needed after a very difficult few weeks.

As for the visits, everything went wonderfully.  Mom, Dad and Scottie arrived on May 8th and stayed until the 15th.  We toured Santiago for a day then went to Valpo and Vina for the rest of the week.  I got to show them around town

Cerro Santa Lucia in Santiago

with the help of my host brother Gonzalo who got to play tour guide and practice his English (thankfully…he knows a lot more about this place than me).  Vivi had us over for tea one night and dinner the next, being the gracious hostess that she always is.  We tried to compensate by taking her and Gonzalo to dinner in the casino with some slot machines afterwards.

On the Friday that they left, we went to Santiago to pick up Taylor who came in that same day.  We had lunch and explored the fine arts museum for awhile before the fam had to go to the airport for the long ride home.  I was sad to see them go but glad to have Taylor here to hang out with after.  It was great getting to see them.

Taylor and I spent two nights in Santiago doing some more exploring, two days in Valpo and Viña, and then six days in the beautiful Atacama desert up north.  I was definitely worth a trip, but I don’t think I’ll need to go back any time soon.  It’s the driest desert in the world, and it certainly lived up to that title.  I got dehydrated very easily, so I was constantly drinking water (bottled only…there’s arsenic in the water from all the mines around San Pedro).  We went with three of my girlfriends from the ISA program and did a bunch of tours.

Taylor and I posing on the Salar de Atacama - Second largest salt flat in the world.

We got started touring on the second day of our trip with a bumpy off-road bus ride to Los Ojos Cejar.  It’s a grouping of super salty lakes that you can float in like the Dead Sea.  There is so much salt that when you get out of the water you are covered in a white, crusty layer.

From there we continued to Los Ojos, which are two twin lagoons in the middle of the enormous desert where you can dive in and wash off all that salt.  Taylor and I decided to give jumping in a try…it was absolutely FREEZING.  Coldest water I have ever jumped into, I am sure.  But it only lasts a few seconds.  I was so cold that I didn’t even feel it after getting out…it was just like a numb sort of burning sensation.  Rather exhilarating, actually.

The last stop of that day was the Salar de Atacama, the second largest salt flat in the world.  I believe the one in Bolivia just across the border beats it.  We arrived at sunset just in time for the incredible colors to show themself on the mountains.  It looked fake it was so beautiful (as you’ll see in my photos).  It was pretty awesome, for lack of a better word.  Definitely worth getting salty.

Laguna Altiplánica Miscanti

The following day we did a tour of las lagunas altiplánicas, or the altiplano lakes.  Things started out a little hectic…our guide slept in accidentally so we had to leave an hour after we’d planned, but all ended up working out fine.  The altitude was a little rough at over 4000 meters, so I had to rest a lot in the van with a headache, but I did manage to see some beautiful sights.  The lakes are truly as blue as they look inte photo.  I loved seeing the contrast of colors.  It felt a bit strange to find so much beauty in the middle of such a desolate place as a desert.

We had lunch and descended from the mountains to see the flamingos at sunset.  That was one of the more bizarre sights I experienced – thousands of flamingos flock there and eat tiny little shrimpy things that live in the salt flats.  It was a very interesting sight indeed.  The last stop was in another small desert town called Toconao where we were able to buy some handicrafts (the same stuff you can find in artesan shops everywhere around here).  I ended up buying a sweater made from alpaca fur which is extremely soft and warm and very useful during cold nights in the desert.

The third day we toured the Salar de Tara, saw more flamingos and other wild life, and I got lots more altitude sickness.  Mmm.  It was worth it though to see all the things we did.  Glaciers many years ago carved out these weird rock formations that seem to defy gravity in the middle of the desert.  I think the flamingos were maybe my favorite part, but it was all pretty incredible to see.  Oh yeah, and I ate llama too.  Tastes beefy.

The flamingos and I at the Salar de Tara.

By the final day all of us were rather wiped out from all the touring and physical exhaustion of the altitude.  We still managed to get our butts up at 3ish to go see Los Geysers del Tatio by sunset.  Once again the tour agency was late, but we made it on time.  There were tons of geysers everywhere which was neat, but I’m not sure it was worth braving the frigid -17 degrees celsius and losing sleep.  It was so cold that I was pretty much convinced I was going to get frostbite in my toes (even with thick socks and sneakers on).  Once the sun came up over the hills though it warmed up rapidly.  Lucky for us there were also some hot springs to dip our feet into to warm up as well.

Later that afternoon we did another tour to the famous Valle de La Luna, very close to San Pedro where we stayed.  It was a great way to end the trip.  Valle de La Luna is named very appropriately…it looks just like the moon or Mars or something of that nature.  We saw more interesting rock structures, including Las Tres Marias (The Three Marys) and El Ampiteatro (The Ampitheater), and watched the sunset from the top of a huge dune.  The panorama from the top of the ridge was really incredible.  All the mountains and volcanoes in the background turned shades of purple, orange, red and pink.

Taylor and I at Valle de La Luna.

Fantastic.  The only thing I can imagine it might be like would be perhaps the Grand Canyon, though I’ve never been there before.

Well, now I’ve been to the extreme south and north of Chile!  I guess the middle part a bit too, but there’s always tons more to see.  It never ceases to amaze me how geographically diverse this country is.  I suppose it makes sense since it’s so long and skinny, but still.  There’s so much to see…five months doesn’t feel like enough time!

We’re in fall here in Chile and it’s definitely starting to feel like it.  It’s gotten much cooler recently although still not really cold.  When I go to Mendoza next weekend it should be a drier cold than here…we shall see.  I need to rest up some before I can think about going out on another journey, but my time is running out!  If I don’t go soon to Mendoza I won’t get the chance because it can snow a lot there in the winter and close down the roads.  I’m going to visit my friend Elisa that was here for a couple of days last month.  It should be a lot of fun.  It’s very easy to get there by bus.  I guess we’ll see.  I’ll be sure to post more pictures as soon as I can…hopefully it won’t be another month from now!

Valle de la Luna - Valley of the Moon

I guess the most efficient way to do this would be to make a list of my top five places I want to visit while here.  Maybe it’ll help jumpstart my planning process…

1) The Atacama!  This one is definitely happening, as I already mentioned.  The things to do in the world’s driest desert include the following: tour altiplano lakes where the flamingos and hundreds of other species of birds go to hang out, visit El Tatio geyser and take a dip in some thermal springs, see the salt flats (not as big as Bolivia’s, but just as cool, I’m sure), see the sunset at the Valle de la Luna (left), and go star-gazing under some of the clearest skies in this hemisphere.  My guidebook says there are tons of local tour agencies that do the aforementioned trips daily, but that the quality of the tour guides is not always great.  You get what you pay for though, so the more expensive the better.  I’m looking into an agency called Atacama Connection, but the price listings

Vineyard in Mendoza, Argentina with Andes in the background.

on their website were conveniently not working–the page wouldn’t load.  I wrote them an email to see what’s up.  It looks legit, but I hope we won’t have to pay out the wazoo.

2)  Mendoza, Argentina.  Aside from the fact that my friend Elisa is there, I think Mendoza would be a pretty rockin’why not?  It’s really close to Vina and Valpo–six hours by bus.  The main attractions there are the wineries and the outdoor sports like biking, hiking, rock climbing, and so on.  I’d love to take a weekend to do a bike tour of some of the wineries, maybe do some hiking through the Andes, and get Elisa to be my tour guide through the city!  I wish that I had time to go to Buenos Aires or Iguazu Falls, but they’re too far away.  I suppose I’ll have to save those for another trip.

3) Isla de Pascua, aka. Easter Island. This is probably not a realistic expectation for this trip, but I would really love to go if I could.  It’s extremely expensive, so I’d probably opt to go for a cheaper journey(s) rather than blow all my money on this one trip and not get to see much else of the country.  Also, although it might be a little cheaper during the off-season, the weather will be colder and will limit the things to do like snorkeling, going to the beach, etc.

The Maoi in Easter Island.

The historical aspect is the main reason for most people in going to Easter Isalnd usually…to see the Maoi  and learn about the colonization and whatnot.  Interesting stuff, but I think I’ll have to save that for another trip, sadly.

4)  La Serena is the capitol of Region IV, Coquimbo, to the north of here.  Though the main attractions are the beaches, there’s also astronomical observatories, a bunch of pretty churches to explore, pisco vineyards, and museums.  Some friends of mine recently went there during Semana Santa and really enjoyed it.  Some of the highlights of their trip were seeing flamingos and penguins on a boat tour along the coast, going star-gazing, etc.  It’s about a 9ish-hour bus ride, I think, which means it’s accessible for the weekend!  Just about any bus ride around or under 12 hours is doable for us travelers here in Chile.  Gracias a mi amiga Nicole for the photo from her trip!

La Serena, Chile.

5) Parque Nacional Lauca is located way up north, almost at the borders of Peru and Bolivia.  The most amazing sites to visit in this park include the twin volcanoes Parinacota and Pomerape (across the border in Bolivia) and Lago Chungara, one of the world’s highest lakes.  Lauca is also a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve with tons of wildlife, including vicuña and alpaca, which are relatives of the llama.  Tours of the park are begun in Arica, which is outside the park, and are best over a 3-4 day period (so says my guidebook).  Some agencies offer one-day blitzes from Arica to Lago Chungara, but the drastic change in altitude has a tendency to make folks very sick on these sorts of tours.  From the pictures I’ve seen, it looks like a really beautiful park.  Camping isn’t really an option, but visitors can stay in Putre (which is quite alright with me after my last camping excursion!

Parque Nacional Lauca, Chile.

So those are my ideal top 5 that I’d like to accomplish during this trip.  If I had even more time to make trips, I’d also love to go to Machu Picchu in Peru and Iguazu Falls on the Brazilian and Argentinian sides, but I know that’s too much for now.  I guess I’ll just have to plan on coming back again someday soon to see everything I want to see.  Something to look forward to :)

All of my work that I’ve been procrastinating on has finally caught up with me.  I spent all day in bed studying my notes and reading, and tomorrow will probably be the same.  I’m a little freaked out now about how much material I have to know for my test on Thursday, and by how horribly disorganized and convoluted my professor’s notes are.  If I dropped the class I would still be taking 14 credits, but I don’t know if it’s too late now.  The thing that worries me most is that if I screw up this test, that’s a big chunk of my grade right there.  Oh well.  I guess I’ll just have to bust my ass…that is what college is about, right?  Learning, forget that.  I may sound a little P.O.’d in this post, so please excuse it.  It happens occassionally.  Frustrations with the language, the cultural difference, being sick, whatever…it wears on you after awhile.  I am still quite content here, but I think the initial infatuation is beginning to wear off a bit.  Vacation is over, now it’s time to work and do what you came here to do.

Elisa and I in Viña del Mar

Aside from that, I have had a pretty good week.  My friend Elisa from UMW is studying in Mendoza, Argentina not too far from here, so she and her friend Kaley came to visit me on Wednesday.  It’s only about six hours by bus, so it was pretty easy for them to get here, and I’m thinking about visiting them in Mendoza next month. I met them at their hostel Wednesday morning and we did a whirlwind tour of downtown Viña and Valpo.  It was a very humid, cloudy day unfortunately, but we had fun none the less.  We walked by the beach in Viña, along Avenida Libertad to Plaza Vergara–a pretty hefty distance.  We ate at a dinky little restaurant that serves completos (hotdogs with avocado, tomato, and mayo dumped on top) and from there took the metro into Valpo.  My favorite neighborhood in Valpo is the Bellavista area and Cerro Concepción.

In Bellavista we walked once again through Museo del Cielo Abierto (Open Sky Museum) which showcases some of the cities’ best murals and street art.  I had already been there before, but it was great to go back again.  I’m always amazed at the street art around here.  It’s so elaborate and well done…it makes me want to grab some paint and find an empty piece of wall somewhere and go at it.  From there we took Ascensor Consepción to Cerro Concepción, a neat area with lots of shops and artsy fartsy things to look at.  There’s also a great lookout there where you can get a view of the entire city.

Don't know who this is, but his face is on the side of a brick wall in Valpo.

Later that evening we went out to get chorrillanas at J Cruz, where I had gone to eat before with friends.  Chorrillanas are basically huge plates of french fries with beef, eggs, and onions on top.  It’ll give you a heart attack, but trust me, it’s worth every bite.  So delicious.  And the atmosphere in that place is unlike anything you’ll find anywhere else.  J Cruz is tucked away in an alley and is filled with collections of interesting junk.  Customers are allowed to write and sign all over everything in the restaurant.  I left my name on a table cloth at our table.  There are old men that sing and play the guitar and accordion in the restaurant and ask you for change.  I love it.

I had been invited by a Chilean friend to go out salsa dancing later that night, so the girls and I headed to a club called Tablon Rufino around 9ish, even though we were exhausted.  At first the place was pretty dead.  Most people don’t really go out in Chile until around 11 at the earliest, and stay out until the wee hours of the morning.  They had some lessons going on though, so I gave it a try.  It’s a lot harder than it looks, let me tell you.  It was a good time though…can’t wait to go back and try it out again sometime.

The next day we didn’t do a whole lot, but we did walk a little around Valpo and got lunch together before the girls left and I went to class.  I discovered that my classes for the afternoon were actually canceled, however, due to Semana Santa.  I went back to Viña and took a very long, very much needed nap.  Perfect end to a great couple of days.  It was really nice to get visitors, and showing them around was good for me too because I got to see and explore some parts of the city I wasn’t too familiar with.  Nothing like being a tour guide to help you get to know a place, I guess.  So when the rest of you guys come visit me, I should be a real pro ;)

Cachimba, Chilean film.

Last night was much more relaxed.  My friend Jena and I watched most of two Chilean movies, one called B-Happy and the other called Cachimba.  Neither were spectacular, unfortunately, but I haven’t given up hope yet up finding some good Chilean films.  B-Happy was a pretty depressing film about a teenage girl growing up in the middle of nowhere in Chile.  She meets her father for the first time when he is released from prison, and a series of unfortunate events happen in her life from that point on.  A lot was left open-ended, which bugged me a bit.  It was pretty obviously low-budget too, but that doesn’t always condemn good movies to death.  I just didn’t know what to think of it in the end.  There were some pretty neat scenes in Valparaiso, though.

Cachimba was a lot more light-hearted, but a bit strange.  I watched most of it without subtitles, which was difficult, but not impossible.  Today I finished it with Spanish subtitles and I got basically everything.  It’s about a man who works for an Chilean art preservation corporation in Santiago.  He’s in love with this woman and they discover this run-down art gallery in some podunk town and he helps revive it, thus simultaneously reviving his relationship with said woman.  Eh, whatever.  I’m still on the hunt for some good ones…I’ll keep you posted.

Boats on the beach at Horcón.

We did go on a tour of “las playas del norte” (the northern beaches) on Saturday for an ISA excursion, which was pretty cool.  The weather has been really nice after a week of gray skies and cold, so we were able to sunbathe a bit and explore.  The first stop was to see the dunes in Con-Con, right outside of Viña del Mar, where we got a pretty nice view, but unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera to the top of the hill and there was nooo way I was going down and climbing all the way up that sand dune for some pictures!  Sorry folks.

Next we went to Horcón, a pretty little fishing and artisan village.  There wasn’t much beach, but it was still a neat place none the less.  I bought a few things from the artesan shops for friends (and for myself, of course…ha!).  From there we went to Zapallar, which is a much more high-class, rich area.  There was a much bigger beach, so we laid out for a bit to take in some sun…maybe look a tiny bit more Chilean?  Ok, maybe not so much.  We finished the day at sunset at a look-out point near Reñaca in Viña del Mar, which was lovely.  Good times all around.

Zapallar beach.

This upcoming week I’ll need to work on a bunch of assignments and really get myself into school mode.  My classes in general are still not very interesting, which is too bad, but they’re also pretty easy.  I have an exam in Geog. of Latin America later this month, which I’m a bit worried about…but I’m sure it’ll be fine.  I need to work harder though.  So far I’ve been spoiled!

At any rate, it is time for this sick puppy to head to bed.  I think I have a doctor visit in store for me tomorroooow.

At any rate, on Thursday night I went with two ISA girls to a salsa club called Ache Habana and we met up with some Chilean students, two of which were our group leaders during orientation.  There was a cover charge of 3.000 pesos (about $5-6 US) which included a drink worth 2.500 pesos.  A little bit on the pricey side, but it was worth it.  The club gives salsa lessons, which was nice.  I tried to follow along but had some trouble.  Then they just play music for awhile and let people do their thang.  And let me tell you…Chileans can dance.  All Chileans.  I’ve not yet seen one bad Chilean dancer.  If they don’t know what they’re doing they just make it up and it still looks awesome.  I can dig it.

Unfortunately I didn’t take many good pictures this week, so I’ve none to post.  I’m sure there will be more to come, however, in the near future……..so keep an eye out.

Posing in front of waterfall in Pucón on ISA excursion.

Pucón is a nice touristy area with lots of outdoor activities.  The first day we were there we toured some of the waterfalls around the area, visited a gorgeous lake, and finished the day at some hot springs.  The following day a group of us attempted to climb Volcán Villarrica, the volcano that looms over the town of Pucón.  The view was incredible, but I didn’t make it very far because the winds were so strong and our gear was extremely heavy.  It was sort of a disappointment not to reach the top, but it was still worth it for the view (and to be able to say that I climbed a volcano…hehe).  The last day we went rafting in the morning and rode South America’s longest zipline through the canopy in the evening–both were a ton of fun.  I definitely felt a lot more adventurous after that trip.

My next adventure came this past weekend with a trip to the Parque Nacional de Las Torres del Paine–one of Chile’s most famous parks.  Overall, the experience was a great one.  I got to see the INCREDIBLE (can’t stress that enough, here) views and participate in my first real camping trip.  I definitely was not prepared for the physical demand of backpacking through some very hilly, rocky, muddy territory, however.  I think I came to the realization that, while I can withstand being dirty and uncomfortable, I am not good at carrying a heavy pack for several hours along difficult trails.  I just didn’t have time to prepare myself for that sort of exertion, so the last part of the trip was a struggle for me.  There was one day where we had to book it from one campsite to another that was about 8 hours hike away from where we were–we had to do this because we were really short on time already.

Volcán Villarrica in Pucón

At any rate, the terrain was really challenging and we had to carry our packs the entire way, so I got exhausted pretty quickly.  I felt a little bit embarrassed because I seemed to be the only one in the group that was really struggling, but I had also been sick the week before and during the trip…not something I could control, I guess.  I didn’t end up making it to see the actual Torres del Paine, but the day my group went to see them it was rainy and foggy out anyhow, so the view probably wouldn’t have been worth killing myself over.  I’m just happy I was able to make it as far as I did without dying!  HA!  I still have a bit of a cold and these weird canker sores on my tongue, but I think I’m getting better.  I didn’t have much time to recuperate before heading out into the wilderness, so this next week I’m going to the doctor to make sure everything’s cool and getting plenty of rest (and real food…).

With all these trips I still haven’t lost the feeling that this experience has been more of a vacation so far than anything else.  I’m kind of ready to just relax in town for a few days and explore…I still need to meet more Chileans my age and really get to know where I’m living and studying.  My classes this week were mostly cancelled because of Semana Novata, or freshman week.  In Chile freshman week is when all the new students celebrate and go out partying pretty much all the time…so I guess they decided just to cancel most of our classes.  No problem with that here.  I hope that my classes are not too difficult.  So far the language classes seem pretty easy, but that’s mainly because those classes are with all foreigners so

El Parque Nacional de Las Torres del Paine in Southern Patagonia, Chile

the professors dumb things down a lot.  My geography classes, on the other hand, are a bit harder.  It’s tough to keep up with the professors and other students because they talk so fast, plus the lecture styles are all kind of hard to follow.  Most of the lectures are excrutiatingly boring and make me nod off…not good.  I need to make friends with some Chileans in my classes to make sure I can stay on top of things.  A tape recorder might not be a bad investment either…

Since I have this week off for the most part I’ll try to post again soon (and work on mailing out those postcards)!  Pictures will be up pronto, of course.  More adventures to come later…

Valparaíso

Last week we also picked out our classes for the semester.  The way it works here is that international students have to sign up for a whole bunch of classes and then drop the ones they don’t like.  Normal PUCV students have their course schedules dictated by their carreras, or majors, from what I understand, so they can’t pick their own classes.  At any rate, foreign students have a month to drop whatever classes they don’t like before turning in their final schedule at the end of March…so we have a lot of flexibility.

Because we have so much flexibility, I’m currently registered in ten classes.  Yep…ten.  A few of them overlap, so I won’t be able to go to all of them this week.  I just wanted to have backup in case I end up hating one of the classes I take.  Today I had two Geography classes, Geog. of Population and Geog. of Latin America, plus a Spanish grammar class.  I think I’m going to like the Latin America and Spanish classes, but the Population one was pretty bad.  All we did was go over the syllabi, but I could tell right away that the professor was not going to be great…he’s an older man that is difficult to understand and follow.  Plus the class material looks like material from another class I took at UMW last semester.  In general though, I think I will be alright in my classes.  The professors seem to be very helpful.

View from La Sebastiana, Pablo Neruda's home in Valparaiso.

I think I’m getting pretty well adjusted to life here so far.  My Chilean family is still awesome, I like the area and feel pretty safe here (not safe enough to walk the streets alone at night, of course), and I’m making some friends.  Most of my friends here so far are Americans, however, which I would like to change.  Of course I don’t mind spending time with them, but I’d really like to be more immersed in the culture, etc.  My host brothers are all very busy and have lives of their own, so I haven’t spent much time with them.  I’m pretty sure I’ll be able to meet more people once school really gets rolling though.

I’ve observed some interesting things about Chileans since arriving here.  For one thing, they are a lot more affectionate than Americans.  You always greet someone with a kiss on the cheek, which still sort of makes me mildly uncomfortable for some reason.    Couples are constantly making out openly in the streets, cuddling, etc. Another thing I’ve noticed is that Chileans, especially women, LOVE to talk.  I’m pretty certain my host mom could talk for hours on end without stopping if she could, which is good because it helps me with my Spanish, but it’s also exhausting!  I feel like I can’t get away sometimes!  She’s pretty good about giving me my space when I need it though, which is nice.  As for style and things of that nature, I’ve noticed that there is an unfortunate trend here of men wearing mullets.  There’s a word for the style, but I can’t remember it now.  It’s so nasty.  With teenagers and people my age especially (even women), the greasy, grungy, scraggly look is definitely in.  I’m pretty sure it’s a style thing…one would think that university students could at least afford a haircut every once in awhile if they really wanted one.  I’m being a bit harsh, but it’s true.  Ick.

In other news, some friends and I are taking a trip to the Patagonia in two weeks!!  We bought our plane tickets today which were surprisingly pretty cheap…about $134 USD a piece.  I can’t wait to go.  We’re going to the Torres del Paine National Park, which is supposed to be one of the most beautiful in South America.  We’ll probably hike and camp, maybe do some biking.  We haven’t gotten around to planning out the specifics yet because we’ve all been really busy.  We are going during Semana Novata, which is freshman week.  We’re leaving on the 19th and returning on the 24th, which should give us four solid days in the park.  It should be an amazing experience if everything works out (I especially hope the weather will be okay).

That’s about all I can manage for today.  I’ll post all my Valpo and Viña pics pronto :)